Francisco Valverde

César Valverde Vega was a Costa Rican painter, writer and lawyer. He was also a planner, public official and diplomat. He was one of the first muralists in Costa Rica and a member of Grupo Ocho, a group of Costa Rican artists who introduced abstract art to Costa Rica in the 1960s, which generated an artistic revolution in the national medium. Professor and later director of Plastic Arts at the University of Costa Rica, he was vice minister of Culture during the administration of Rodrigo Carazo Odio (1978-1982), received the "Premio Nacional Aquileo J. Echeverría" prize for painting on three occasions, and wrote several books, including a short novel. He is considered one of the great masters of the avant-garde of Costa Rican art.